Winning, Losing, Confusing
by shnazzy jazzy
Summary: Troy Bolton loved to win, especially when it came to basketball. What happens when he meets his match? Will he get the girl?


**A/N**: I know I still need to finish _It's Always the Quiet Ones_, but this idea has been stuck in my mind for the past couple months. I wasn't able to really form a complete one shot until now. So yes, this story is a ONE-SHOT.

I am also extremely sorry that I have not been able to update. I barely have free time: work, school, homework, dance classes (especially since competition season's coming up), church, chores, projects, etc. And the fact that I'm kind of really lazy.

However, please enjoy this one shot, story, or memory kind of thing. I'm sorry if you get confused.

_**Winning, Losing, Confusing**_

Troy Bolton loved to win, especially when it came to his forte, which was basketball. Whenever a loss occurred, Troy would study whatever went wrong and fix that problem when the next opportunity arrived. Some called him a sore loser, others, a perfectionist. Troy just called himself a competitor.

_---_

Troy Bolton had never sweated as much in his life as he did at this moment. He felt like buckets of sweat were pouring onto him. The sun was beating down on him and the amount of people watching the game was starting to stifle him, even though he was outside at the local park. And for once in his life, the girls watching on the sidelines were not cheering for him, but against him.

He was playing one-on-one against the toughest opponent he had ever faced on the basketball court. Sure, he had faced some other difficult opponents before, but he was able to find their weaknesses early enough. For example, his best friends Chad, Zeke, and Jason all had difficulties faking right and breaking left, but this person… there was nothing wrong to be said.

Troy had been off to a very good start, but his opponent seemed to be observing and learning from his every move and also feeding off of the positive energy being given off by the supporters. The challenger had quickly caught up and now they were both tied: 11-11, each only one point away from winning. It was now a water break and Troy used the time to think of all he knew about his opponent.

**...MEMORY...**

Troy Bolton had just moved into Albuquerque, New Mexico, a month and a half ago, and he had already made three new best friends. He was closest to Chad Danforth with his crazy hair and his outgoing and friendly attitude. There was also Zeke Baylor, who made the best cookies, and Jason Cross, who was just a little slow. All three excelled on all aspects of athletics, especially basketball, which was a reason they became so close so soon.

When he first met them, he had found them moping around in the park, seemingly a little depressed. He had learned that the fourth person in their close knit group had left for vacation for three weeks and now they didn't seem to know what to do with themselves. Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason had eventually grown closer through their love of sports: playing the games physically and virtually against each other and watching the games on the television. Chad had even told Troy stories about the 'Mighty Montez,' the original fourth person, who made Troy impressed from what he had been told.

Troy was constantly reminded of the impact that this 'Mighty Montez' had on his new friends, even though they had told him he was the slightly better basketball player of the two. However, he still feared that when Montez returned, Troy's place within his new group of friends would be replaced, especially when he visited his soon-to-be high school and his friends' homes.

In the East High gymnasium, he had seen a poster naming the top basketball free throw percentages in the history of the school. Montez's name was number seven, following three well known basketball players in the national college or professional leagues from past decades.

Chad, Zeke, and Jason had multiple first place city league jerseys and trophies each in their rooms. All of them were signed with their teammates' last names. Montez had signed every single one of them.

When Troy shared his fear of replacement with Chad, he only laughed it off. He told him that neither of them could ever be replaced. Chad even confided with a smirk, that there were just a few things he couldn't share with the 'Mighty Montez.'

Troy never understood the true meaning of Chad's comment until he met the 'Mighty Montez' face to face.

He had decided to go over Chad's house a half an hour earlier than he was asked to come and when he rang the doorbell, the door was answered by an exotic looking girl his age, instead of his bushy haired best friend. She wore white knee-high socks with red stripes, red shorts, and a plain white tank. She had long, dark hair curling down her back, sparkling brown eyes, and cheek bones that looked like they could cut through glass. Troy stood transfixed and confused, thinking **'Who is this beautiful girl and what is she doing at the Danforth's?'**

The girl interrupted his thoughts, "Hey… um… you must be Troy. I'm Gabriella. You wanna come in?"

After he stepped through the doorway and Gabriella led him into the kitchen, Troy automatically overcame their initial awkward meeting and turned on his 'flirt mode.' "So Gabriella, why are you at the Danforth's and how come Chad hasn't told me anything about you?"

He smiled inwardly when he saw her blush as she prepared to make a strawberry smoothie. Gabriella giggled and returned the flirting, "I'm kind of mad that Chad didn't tell me that you were this charming. But that would be just a little bit awkward. I'm also surprised he hasn't mentioned me to you. For once in his life, has Chad actually not mentioned anything about a 'Mighty—'"

"MONTEZ, where's my smoothie?" Chad burst into the kitchen, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"It's right here, Chunky Chad!" Gabriella muttered in reply.

Chad ignored her, "Oh hey, Troy, you get to finally meet the 'Might Montez!' This is Gabriella Montez. Gabi, meet Troy Bolton."

Troy's jaw had dropped, while he officially met her and shook her hand. Gabriella, this petite girl, that he had enjoyed flirting with, was the record holding 'Mighty Montez.' All this time he had believed 'Mighty Montez' to be a… well… a guy.

Gabriella laughed at Troy's expression and asked in mock seriousness, "Let me guess. You thought 'Mighty Montez' was a guy didn't you?" She turned her attention toward Chad, her eyes glittering as she attempted to look angry. "Why do you always do that? You always tell people about me but you never tell them I'm female!" She smacked his arm.

Troy blushed deeply but didn't answer the question directed towards him. Gabriella laughed at him but gave him a flirty wink, which made him feel a lot better about his mistake.

When Zeke and Jason arrived, the newly formed/reunited five-some decided to play a game of, what else, basketball. Troy was especially eager to see 'Mighty Montez' in action, but was disappointed to see that whenever she played she seemed to hold back. Gabriella joked around, telling him that she didn't want to scare his 'cute, little butt' away with her crazy basketball skills. He didn't push because he knew that she would show him in time.

Over the next three weeks, Troy and Gabriella grew extremely close to each other. They spent hours on end, just the two of them, discussing music and sports and everything in between. They flirted constantly, but knew they were able to talk to each other about anything serious. Neither could deny the attraction they felt towards each other.

However, when he told Chad that he was going to ask Gabriella out, Chad had flipped out on him. Chad had automatically whipped out his phone and called Zeke and Jason. The two had arrived, car brakes screeching, within the next five minutes.

Chad, Zeke, and Jason had then pulled out the "over protective brothers" card. They took turns telling Troy reasons that he couldn't go out with Gabriella, all of which Troy was able to prove wrong. One reason was that Gabriella was too young to be dating but Troy had informed them that Jason was younger than Gabriella and was in the middle of a serious relationship that was going into their second anniversary. Troy also pointed out the amount of time that they had spent getting to know each other.

One by one, they agreed (albeit unhappily) with his reasoning and gave Troy their best wishes, throwing in a few threats if he was ever to hurt Gabriella. However, with their blessings came one ultimatum to complete before asking her out: beat Mighty Montez, Gabriella herself, in a basketball game.

**...END MEMORY...**

So here Troy was, sitting on the sidelines, looking across the court at his opponent and the girl of his dreams. Gabriella was beautiful, kind-hearted, outgoing, opinionated, and five thousand other amazing adjectives. And the fact that she was athletic added to his list. He grinned widely at her, when she caught him staring and winked cheekily at him.

Chad signaled for the game to resume and the two players rushed back unto the court. Troy listened to the cheering crowds: three quarters of the male crowd and all of the females had begun a cheer of "Montez! Montez!" that easily drowned out the shouts of his measly crowd of supporters. Of course, the females were rooting for Gabriella, in the name of Girl Power. The reasons for Gabriella's male fans, however was split: half wanted, good naturedly, for Troy to fail at his forte against one of the "weaker sex" and the other half cheered for Gabriella because they thought she was hot.

Troy and Gabriella faced each other and began to pass the ball to each other.

_Bounce._

_Bounce._

_Bounce._

Troy held the ball and began dribbling the ball, twisting his body in difficult directions. Gabriella, looking just as fluid, kept up with his pace, blocking Troy's openings in which he could take the winning shot. She watched his body movements carefully and smiled inwardly when she caught a triumphant glimmer in his eyes. Gabriella knew automatically that he was going to do the "LA Faker," Troy's 'secret' move that always seemed to mean victory. However, she was ready. She set her body when she saw him fake left and jumped into the air after he had broken left and shot the ball. Her hand made contact with the ball. Gabriella landed with a steady crouch and launched herself towards the other basket.

Troy was two beats behind her. He had stopped momentarily, when he saw Gabriella had blocked his signature "LA Faker." He was so close to winning the game, which meant that he could ask Gabriella out sooner. But he pushed himself out of his thoughts and back into the game and chased after her. However, he was too late. Gabriella shot the ball and he watched it soar towards the basket.

_Swish._

Troy stopped dead in his tracks, stunned, watching the cheering crowd rush onto the court and envelope Gabriella in a sea of bodies. _That wasn't supposed to happen,_ was the only thought running through his head. He was supposed to win the game so he could ask Gabriella on a date. He had built up all of his courage for the moment he would be able to ask Gabriella out once he won the game, but she had beaten him. He was more concerned with the loss of asking Gabriella out right away compared to the fact of actually losing, to a girl, no less.

Automatically, he began to analyze how his winning play was stumped. _Did I break at the wrong time? Was my body turned at the wrong angle? Did I jump too high? Too low? How did I not see her coming?_

"Hey." Troy was interrupted from his inner chastising by the girl in his thoughts. She had taken her hair out of her ponytail and still looked gorgeous, sweat and all. "You played a really great game out there. You were pretty good… for a guy." Gabriella smiled cheekily at him.

Troy couldn't help but laugh, although he felt disappointed in his missed opportunity, "Funny. You're pretty good for a girl. You sure you don't want a rematch?" Gabriella pretended not to notice his tone sounded a little desperate.

She grinned up at him, "Troy, don't be a sore loser. I just came by to collect my prize. I did, after all, beat the East High Varsity Basketball Captain."

They had agreed that the winner would be able to ask for anything of each other, such as paid lunch for a week or a ticket to a concert or game. In Troy's case, he wanted that date.

"Okay, hit me, Gabs. What am I going to have to do for you since you won?"

"There's only one thing that I want, Bolton…" Troy noticed that Gabriella had suddenly begun to look less confident in herself. Alarmed, Troy lifted her head up to look her in the eyes.

"Gabriella, what is it?" He searched her eyes for an answer and was once again taken back when he saw her eyes flash with confidence. She answered his question with one word: "This."

The next thing Troy knew was that he had the softest pair of lips connected to his own. Gabriella had flung herself into his arms, her own wrapping tightly around his neck. Her fingers were weaving through his sweaty locks. His hands, which were on her waist, had begun to snake towards her lower back, pulling her closer until there was no room between them. When oxygen had become a necessity, Troy and Gabriella slowly pulled apart. They looked each other in the eyes, examining each others reaction to the surprising, yet satisfying, happening. Both saw confusion, lust, and maybe, love.

They leant their foreheads together, unaware of the cheering crowd that had gathered around them.

Gabriella broke the silence first, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," her large, signature smile growing on her face.

Troy nodded in response, "I think I do. We've only known each other for a few weeks, but I feel that you know me better than anyone else. I really like you, Gabriella Montez, Mighty or not…" He trailed off and smirked, "Although, you did bruise my ego, by beating me in basketball. You sure you don't want that rematch?"

She threw her head back in laughter and Troy automatically attached his lips to her now more exposed neck, sucking, licking, nipping, until her giggles had turned into a low, guttural moan. He stopped admiring her neck with his mouth and attacked her lips, kissing her again and again, each kiss different than the last.

_Maybe losing wasn't such a bad thing at all._

* * *

**A/N**: Just to clarify the title: "_**Winning, Losing**_" is self explanatory. The "_**Confusing**_" section is because of Mighty Montez's mistaken gender. 

Please review this story. I want to know if it confused you, if it was horrible, or if you liked/loved it. Also, tell me what you thought was going to happen after you read the summary!!


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